J.J. Geise reads a paper as he treats himself to coffee and a baked good at a Starbucks coffee shop in Seattle in this Jan. 25, 2008 file photo. Starbucks Corp. is teaming up with AT&T Inc. and will start... (Associated Press)

(Newser)
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Struggling with its first major sales slump, Starbucks hopes to lure back customers with a $2.50 cup of luxury coffee. The company hopes to find a high-end niche among serious coffee aficionados with the new brew, made in an $11,000 gizmo similar to a French press, Bloomberg reports. The company already is experimenting with a $1 cup with free refills.

"If they can create a better-tasting product and if they can get people to pay more for it, then you'd have the missing ingredient, which is pricing power," said one analyst. The price is about a dollar more expensive than the current regular brew, but just less than the company's lattes.